IT'S IN OUR DNA

We Live It. We Breathe It. Every Day.

DNA is the hereditary matter that makes us uniquely who we are.
Our focus and expertise in metal distribution…
Our product reach, quality and value—no matter how complex…
Our commitment to delivering the best service…always…
Our passion for what we do and the people we serve…
At Paragon Steel, it’s what’s in our DNA that makes us uniquely us.

QUALITY & SERVICE

We pride ourselves on giving high quality service to all our customers.

RANGE OF PRODUCTS

We have a diverse range of steel products to fit most any requirements.

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Customers come back to us because they want high quality and value

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

We pay close attention to the details because you expect the very best

The Paragon Steel Promise:

To provide higher levels of quality and service to our customers
while delivering any product, in any size or specification.

ABOUT US

It's Business. It's Personal.

By Jim Stavis

It was more than 42 years ago when I started my first automotive aftermarket business called Pace Setter Industries. It grew to become the largest muffler manufacturer west of the Mississippi. In addition to business concepts, the one thing I had to become knowledgeable with was steel. We had bought an incredible amount of tubing, aluminized steel and steel coils of all varieties. I found myself frustrated with the vendors on the supply side of steel distribution. To fulfill all of our processes, we needed more than a dozen different types of steel vendors. Since we ran a production line, getting just-in-time vendors was critical to our success.

After 16 years in business, I eventually sold my interest in the muffler company and joined Doug Carpenter, who was a close vendor and friend. Together, we formed Paragon Steel in 1988 in Long Beach. The lessons I learned in my prior business in meeting the needs of manufacturing became the blueprint for our new company. Our sole focus was to provide higher levels of quality and service to our customers. When customers would ask what we could provide, we would respond with, “Whatever you need.” We broke the barrier of specialization. For years, steel distributors would only carry one type of commodity, such as structural shapes, or plates, or flat rolled or stainless and aluminum products. At Paragon Steel, we can provide any product, in any size or specification. Our boundaries are endless. There was a time when steel distributors dictated to their customers when deliveries could be made or how many pieces were in a bundle of steel. We looked at that as an old paradigm. Why not provide delivery when the customer wanted it in the quantities they desired? It sounds simple today, but back in 1988, it was revolutionary thinking.

So now, some 26 years later, we are still evolving. Customer needs have certainly changed. Customers now have technology at their disposal to source online, send out requisitions via e-mail and do not require the face-to-face contact that used to be a fundamental part of developing relationships. As a vendor, it is much harder to foster those relationships, and we find that it is still a vital part of business. At Paragon Steel, we view ourselves as an extension of a customer’s purchasing department. If we cannot provide value, then there really would be no reason for us to exist, let alone prosper.

So enough about the past…what about the future? We see a changing landscape. The continuing trend of mergers and consolidation with steel service centers will make companies like ours more unique and special. Bigger companies cannot shift in and out markets as we can. They become too structured and bureaucratic to provide the levels of service that customers now demand. There is no going back on that. And even though communication has changed and markets have changed, and continue to change, it still boils down to people doing business with people they can trust. We welcome the opportunity to earn yours.

Jim Stavis Speaks

I am not just a President & CEO—I am also a triple transplant recipient, surviving a surgery that is both incredibly rare and risky. How did I manage Type I diabetes, the transplant wait list, running a successful company and caring for a family? Here’s a hint: It has to do with HOPE.

I share this story of hope through my award-winning documentary Source of Hope as well as through professional speaking engagements across the nation. To request a copy of my documentary or learn more about booking me as a speaker for your next event, visit www.jimstavis.com. You can also follow Jim Stavis Speaks on my official Facebook page. Or e-mail info@paragonsteel.com with the subject line “Add me to your newsletter list!” to be added to the distribution list for Paragon Steel’s quarterly insightful business newsletter where I also share stories of hope.

—Jim Stavis, President & CEO, Paragon Steel

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Our Focus. Our Expertise.

Our focus and expertise in distribution and processing allow us to take care of all your metal needs—large or small, easy or hard-to-find and always with the higher level of quality and service our customers expect from us:

OUR SPECIALTIES

MEDIA

Paragon Steel and our President & CEO Jim Stavis are proud to be featured throughout the media in articles about our company, industry trends and causes that are close to our heart—organ donation and hope through adversity in business and in life. Visit this section often for good reads and inspiration!

It used to drive me crazy when the calendar would turn to October and we would start planning for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. In fact, I’ve already seen movie trailers for movies coming out next summer. Remember when we used to live for today? But, like it or not, 2016 is upon us and we need to start preparing for it. What I do enjoy is contemplating what the future holds and then sticking my finger in the air like the rest of the world.—Read more about it here »

2016—What to Expect

By Bob Weidner, President & CEO of the Metals Service Center Institute, as featured on msci.org—
We at MSCI are quite proud of the invaluable set of industry perspectives and insight we put together each month with your help and on your behalf. Our Metals Activity Report (MAR) is the “go-to” source for the most accurate, up-to-date, and complete data on how service centers are doing and where they are going as the economy and our politicians continue to throw us curve balls.—Read the full story here »

Waiting Is Not an Option

A shrunken industry, a paralyzed government, a call to action

Paragon Steel was a proud sponsor of the Donate Life float in this year’s Rose Parade. The float featured a floragraph of the boy whose organs were donated to save our founder Jim Stavis’ life 10 years ago. Jim and his wife Renee honored the donor and his family by taking part in a special floragraph-decorating event.
On January 1, 2016, Jim rode the Donate Life float in the Rose Parade in recognition of the boy who saved his life.—Read more about it here »

2016 Rose Parade Float

The Studio Art Hall at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., has earned national recognition in the 2015 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS2).
The IDEAS2 award is the highest, most prestigious honor bestowed on building projects by the structural steel industry in the U.S. and recognizes the importance of teamwork, coordination and collaboration in fostering successful construction projects.—Read the full story here »

National Steel Building Award

As featured on aisc.org

NEWSLETTERS

NOVEMBER 2016

AUGUST 2016

MAY 2016

FEBRUARY 2016

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